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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22495978">the lemon tree</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowdropshua/pseuds/snowdropshua'>snowdropshua</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, M/M, Romance, i don't know what this is but whatever, kind of messy but i wrote it quickly so, this is just pure fluff...</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:59:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,772</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22495978</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowdropshua/pseuds/snowdropshua</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Taeyong has an overproducing lemon tree. Jaehyun has an undying sweet tooth. They meet somewhere in between.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun &amp; Suh Youngho | Johnny, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the lemon tree</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Oh, boy, was this rushed. It's probably not very good, but I wrote it as fast as I've ever written anything, so. I haven't posted, or really written, in so long, so I was kind of eager to. That summary is also...eh. Whatever. Cute Jaeyong and baker Taeyong!<br/>I have part two of my Stray Kids series and chapter one of a LONG Mark-centric fantasy thing coming up, if you're interested in either of those. (No guarantee they'll be up anytime soon.)<br/>Thanks for reading!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Taeyong knocked on his door was about two weeks after Jaehyun had moved to their suburban neighborhood. They’d met before. Right after Jaehyun had moved in, he’d introduced himself to all his neighbors. His first impression of Taeyong was that he was stunning, but shy and kind of spacey. They didn’t really hit it off, and Jaehyun wasn’t really planning on talking to him again.<br/>
</p>
<p>
That was, until Taeyong showed up on his front doorstep one September afternoon with a basket of lemons.<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun blinked at him in surprise. “Hi, Taeyong!” he said.<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Hi, Jaehyun,” Taeyong said shyly. “I was wondering if you wanted some lemons?” He held up the basket in explanation. “My tree always grows way too many, and I think everyone else is kind of getting sick of them…” He trailed off and looked at Jaehyun hopefully.<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Sure!” Jaehyun said, brightening. He loved fresh lemons, but he hadn’t had them in a long time. “Oh, I’ve been craving homemade lemonade...thank you so much!”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Taeyong handed over the basket, but he didn’t leave. He asked, “Do you really make your own lemonade?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun nodded eagerly. “It’s been a while, but yeah, I love it! It takes forever to squeeze the lemons, but it’s totally worth it. It’s so much better than anything you can get in stores. And I can make it as sweet as I like!”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Taeyong’s face lit up. “You like sweet things?” he asked.<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun laughed. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “I have the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I’ve ever met. My mom always tells me I’m going to ruin my teeth, but-” He realized he was oversharing and quickly stopped, flushing. “Ah, anyways. Thank you for the lemons! I’ll bring you some lemonade when I return your basket if you want some?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Taeyong quickly nodded. “Yes! That sounds great. You don’t need to rush, though. I don’t need the basket anytime soon, so whenever you’re done.” He waved and hurried away.<br/>
</p>
<p>
Not even a week later, Taeyong was back. Jaehyun had brought over the basket and a jug of lemonade a few days ago, and they’d talked for a little while. He’d enjoyed Taeyong’s company, sure, but he’d expected that to be the end of it. But here Taeyong was, holding a plate covered with a napkin.<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Jaehyun!” he said immediately. “I’m sorry this is so sudden-I’m kind of in a rush-but would you like some lemon bars?” He peeled back the napkin a little to reveal beautiful pastries that looked straight out of a magazine. Jaehyun could feel himself salivating.<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Of course I’ll take them,” he said. “But don’t you want them?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Taeyong laughed. “Oh, believe me, I eat enough sugar. Here you go. Don’t bother about returning the plate, I’ve got plenty. I need to go, but I hope you enjoy them!” He handed Jaehyun the plate and ran off.<br/>
</p>
<p>
They were the best lemon bars he’d ever had.<br/>
</p>
<p>
From then on, Taeyong had a habit of bringing by pastries-lemon poppy seed muffins, lemon sugar cookies, and a delightful lemon meringue pie. Sometimes he was in a rush, but sometimes he took Jaehyun’s invitation and went inside his house to chat for a while.<br/>
</p>
<p>
At first, Jaehyun had been a little concerned. “Why are you giving me so much free food?” he’d asked Taeyong once. “Don’t you have anyone else to give it to?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Taeyong shrugged. “Like I said, most of our neighbors are kind of lemoned out. And I need to do something with the lemons. And I certainly can’t eat all of this by myself… Also, I’m a baker. Making all this is just practice. And you’re just the cute neighbor I managed to convince to eat it.” He’d smiled sweetly, tilting his head a little, and Jaehyun had totally forgotten all words for a minute as he stared dazedly at Taeyong’s face.<br/>
</p>
<p>
That was another thing. On top of being the best baker Jaehyun had ever known, Taeyong was cute. Like, really cute. Like, cutest boy Jaehyun had ever seen cute. And he had somehow found himself developing a huge crush on him.<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun had told Johnny all about Taeyong and their conversations over FaceTime, hoping to get some kind of useful advice. Johnny had laughed and immediately told him, “He’s flirting.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“What? No way!” Jaehyun said, laughing to cover up how nervous and excited the thought made him.<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Yes way,” Johnny said, rolling his eyes. “He’s making you pastries literally every week, when you’d think he’d get sick of it, since he does it for a living. Speaking of, I really need to come over soon, if his stuff is as good as you claim it is… Anyway, he also called you cute. And you said he’s always super shy around you? Come on, dude. He’s just as whipped as you are.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun frowned. “I don’t really trust your advice without you actually seeing what’s going on.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“How about this, then?” Johnny proposed. “Ask him to come over for dinner. You can cook, and it’ll totally impress him, and it’ll be a great first date. And if he gives no indication that he actually wants it to be a date, just tell him that you’re paying him back for the pastries.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“That’s...actually not an awful idea,” Jaehyun said, considering it and ignoring Johnny’s indignant shout of “I never have awful ideas!” (They both knew it was a lie, anyway.) “Huh. Yeah, I guess I’ll do that. Thanks, Johnny.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
So the next time Taeyong dropped by-with a decadent lemon loaf cake this time-Jaehyun asked him, “Do you want to come over for dinner sometime this week?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Taeyong immediately flushed bright red. “I-uh, like, tomorrow?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun shrugged. “Sure, tomorrow works fine. I just...want to pay you back for everything you’ve been giving me. I know you say I’m doing you a favor and all that, but I know how much effort you put into your baking, and I’d like to think I’m a decent cook, at least.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Sure!” Taeyong said, his blush mostly faded. “When should I come over?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Six is good,” Jaehyun said. “And don’t bring anything! I’m trying to pay you back.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Okay,” Taeyong said, smiling up at him. “I’ll be here.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
That left Jaehyun with a whole day to stress out over planning the menu. Finally, he decided on his mother’s bibimbap. Everyone liked bibimbap, right? And it was something he was totally confident in cooking.<br/>
</p>
<p>
He went shopping for the ingredients that evening and started cooking as soon as he got home from work the next day. He was probably way too nervous to safely be using knives, but he didn’t cut himself, so it was fine.<br/>
</p>
<p>
When Jaehyun finally finished, it was about a quarter to six. He hurried to get changed and brush his hair, and he heard a knock on his front door as soon as he emerged from his bedroom.<br/>
</p>
<p>
It was Taeyong, of course, looking as lovely as always. He was dressed a little nicer than usual, though, and Jaehyun smiled at the thought of both of them dressing up for this dinner.<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Right on time!” he greeted. “Come in.” Taeyong followed him inside. He’d been inside Jaehyun’s house several times before, but he was acting like it was his first time, staring wide-eyed at everything, including Jaehyun himself. It made him a little nervous, to be honest, but he shook it off and led Taeyong to the table.<br/>
</p>
<p>
They made conversation as they ate. Taeyong praised Jaehyun’s cooking, and Jaehyun had to resist the urge to tell him, “You could have this anytime if you dated me.” That was way too straightforward for any situation, and he didn’t want to scare Taeyong away. But he was realizing now that the plan wasn’t as perfect as he’d first thought: Taeyong hadn’t given him any indication that he thought this was a date. Had Johnny been wrong? Sure, Taeyong blushed a lot around him and made him baked goods and called him cute. But did that really mean anything?<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun stared into his bowl for a long moment, lost in thought. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if Taeyong didn’t want to date him, but he would be sad. Not only was Taeyong beautiful and a great baker, he was also sweet and kind. Jaehyun wanted him, wanted to be able to love him.<br/>
</p>
<p>
But there was no way he was going to be brave enough to make his move, not unless there was some sure indication that Taeyong actually liked him.<br/>
</p>
<p>
Taeyong cleared his throat. “Ah...Jaehyun?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Realizing he’d spaced out, Jaehyun laughed and scratched at his neck, embarrassed. “Sorry about that, Yong. I was just thinking.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
There was a long moment of silence. Jaehyun, wondering if he’d done something wrong, peered closely at Taeyong’s face. His cheeks were bright red. “...Yong?” he whispered.<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun flushed. “Oh, I’m sorry if you don’t like it-I kind of have nicknames like that for all my friends…” He trailed off as Taeyong looked at him.<br/>
</p>
<p>
The older man stared at Jaehyun for a full thirty seconds before taking a deep breath and saying, “Jaehyun, tell me if I’m reading this wrong, but...was this supposed to be a date?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Totally taken aback, Jaehyun blinked before hurriedly saying, “Oh, I, uh-maybe… If you’d want it to be?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Taeyong frowned. “Well, of course I want it to be. I’m just trying to figure out what you want. You’ve kind of been sending mixed signals, you know…” He raised an eyebrow.<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun beamed. “Oh, I’m sorry about that, but you really want it to be a date? That’s great! I wanted it to be one, but I wasn’t sure if you liked me back.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Well, I do,” Taeyong said. “You’re cute, and nice, and I want you to be my boyfriend.” He was staring right at Jaehyun, like he was making him a challenge.<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Great!” Jaehyun said cheerfully. “Let’s be boyfriends, then. Let’s bake lemon desserts together and cook together and go on dates and do all those lovey things.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Sounds good to me,” Taeyong agreed. “Boyfriend. So...can we kiss?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Of course!” Jaehyun said, standing up and striding to Taeyong’s seat. Taeyong stood up and went on his tiptoes.<br/>
</p>
<p>
They kissed, gentle and chaste. Taeyong went back to the flats of his feet and frowned up at Jaehyun. “You have to bend down,” he decided. “If we’re kissing any longer than that and I’m on my tiptoes, I’m going to fall over.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
Jaehyun laughed. “Okay,” he said, bending down. “Round two?”<br/>
</p>
<p>
“Round two,” Taeyong agreed, and their lips met again.</p>
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